Considerable interest was aroused in official and Jewish circles today by three varying solutions of the critical Palestine situation offered by three London newspapers.
The Times, caustically commenting that the Arabs, gambling on the supposed weakness of Great Britain, are seeking not an agreement but outright expulsion of the Jews, urges that measures be taken at once to suppress the violence.
Numerical and geographical restriction of the Jewish population in the Holy Land is counselled by the Sunday Observer.
The Sunday Express offers the suggestion that Great Britain wash its hands of the entire business by returning the Mandate to the League of Nations.
The Times editorial declares that if the Arabs are really concerned about their grievances they should accept the Jewish offer of a round table conference.
“But the Arab leaders,” it continues,” refuse to meet the Jews because they do not want an arrangement, but Jewish expulsion. They are still gambling on the supposed weakness of Great Britain. It is quite time for British statesmen to show them and everyone else in the East that the assumption underlying such a gamble is baseless. Given adequate troops, a whole-hearted administration and, if necessary, martial law, there is no serious obstacle to our restoring order and stamping out political crime. The sooner we do this, the better.”
The Times contends that Jewish developments in the Holy Land have made it clear that whatever the Arab social and economic causes for complaint they are not the mainspring of the revolt, which is nationalistic.
The Sunday Observer, while praising Zionist achievements in the Holy Land, declares:
“The way clearly revealed is strict limitation, numerical and perhaps also geographical, of the Jewish element in Palestine.”
The Star in an editorial Saturday declared the War Office action in summoning 3,000 reservists to bring the First Division up to its full strength reveals the serious view the authorities are now taking of the Palestine situation.
The editorial warned that any appearance of weakness in the face of “blackmail by violence” would simply lead to new demands by the Arabs.
Older Arab leaders were described as probably secretly welcoming the show of firmness inasmuch as it will enable them to reconsider their flat rejection of the Jewish offer to meet in round-table conference. The editorial saw the leaders becoming embarrassed by “their own hotheads.”
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
